postcard to bobalu
Originally uploaded by ericandkatherine
Another relic from the great basement purge of '09.
We always called my mother's mother "Bobalu" instead of Grandma/Grandmother/Grannie/whatever. When I was born, my parents were slightly concerned about me getting confused by calling two women "Grandma" (though this hasn't seemed to be a problem for billions of other children).
Then my Grandmother, who was quite a character, exclaimed, "How about he call me..." then she started singing, "Bob-a-lu!"
For those unfamiliar with 1940s Latin jazz music and/or "I Love Lucy," "Babalu" was a big hit for Desi Arnaz.
So, with a slight change in spelling, my grandmother became Bobalu--and it seemed like the most normal thing in the world to me.
The photo is a postcard I wrote to Bobalu when I was 10.
